Decimals - Tenths on a Place Value Grid - Planning

In Year 4, students begin to explore the world of decimals, specifically focusing on tenths during their Spring term. The lesson plan involves a small step starter, class teaching input, independent learning, and a plenary. The resources provided include worksheets, presentations, and tangible items like counters and place-value grids. The key vocabulary for this lesson includes terms such as decimals, tenths, hundredths, and number sentence, with vocabulary cards available for additional support. The lesson starts with a recap of previous learning, ensuring that children understand the placement of the tenths column to the right of the decimal point and how to represent tenths using concrete materials on a place-value grid. They also learn to write these as decimals and are introduced to decimals greater than 1.

Diving deeper into the topic, activities are designed to solidify the children's understanding of decimals and tenths. In the first activity, children complete sentences to help them articulate their understanding of decimals shown on a place-value grid. They practice partitioning decimals and representing them on the grid, followed by writing partitioned number sentences. Further practical activities encourage the use of counters to represent decimals on the grid, fostering greater independence in describing them. Through reasoning tasks, students explore different combinations of ones and tenths, and discuss the correct representation of twelve tenths. The lesson concludes with differentiated worksheets to cater to varying levels of understanding. Throughout the lesson, key questions prompt critical thinking about the number of tenths in a whole and the importance of the decimal point. The lesson aims to address common misconceptions, such as the misunderstanding of the tenth value as a whole, and ensures that students learn to accurately represent tenths on a place-value grid.